New Vid Owner - Centipede

Pinster

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I've been into pinball machines for the past two years and tomorrow (barring any issues) I pick up my first video, a Centipede. Asking is $350, but it's working, all original, local, and "real nice" says the owner. Looking for newbie guidance on how to make it perfect.

Will post pics when I've got it in house.

Thanks,

Brian
 
Well once you get it. Cleaning down the game, if It's really dirty, is a good start. Also Replacing the T-molding if it's faded or chewed is always recommended.

Hope everything goes per-planned tomorrow. An make sure to post pictures!
 
Have fun, My Centipede has brought me alot of joy! Oh, and eat your Wheaties, they are heavy as hell!!!

So I hear. I'm fortunate ... the owner said it's in the garage and he'll load it into my SUV. I'm on crutches. Friends will help load it into my house. I'll be serving Wheaties!

Brian
 
Hope everything goes well. If your looking for tips make sure deal is sealed before posting about it here. Someones likley to beat you to it. LOL
 
Hope everything goes well. If your looking for tips make sure deal is sealed before posting about it here. Someones likley to beat you to it. LOL

Spoke w/ owner and deal is sealed, cash in hand, time is set for pickup. I know the hawks would be circling, but this isn't one of those killer deals I think seasoned KLOVers would try to weasle in...
 
Newbie Advice: You're planning to lay it on it's back inside a SUV .. pop the rear door off and make sure the gameboard is secured down, and there's nothing flopping around or loose inside the cab that could damage anything.

I recently picked up Chase HQ non-working, because someone had moved it around while the gameboard was unsecured and became damaged.
 
Newbie Advice: You're planning to lay it on it's back inside a SUV .. pop the rear door off and make sure the gameboard is secured down, and there's nothing flopping around or loose inside the cab that could damage anything.

I recently picked up Chase HQ non-working, because someone had moved it around while the gameboard was unsecured and became damaged.

Thanks, noted!

Similar advice when I've moved pinball machines. Everything gets secured/padded; head, backglass, and the entire cabinet. I was heading across the Bronx for a pinball machine I had picked up out on Long Island. I had a Funhouse safely padded and strapped down in my pickup bed. Around a blind corner at 65mph on the Cross-Bronx expressway a car was disabled/stopped dead. I braked hard, the pin stayed put. If it wasn't tied down it would have definitely went airborn ... $2,200 loss easy.
 
It's home, it's home, it's home! (I am such a child)

Ok ... here's my first vid, now home. This is after a wipe-down with general purpose cleaner, and taking a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and lots of Novus 2 to the control panel.

For all the pics, and in hi-res, see here: http://gallery.me.com/carscadden1#100498

The good: $300, looks great, it was local, real nice guy that sold it to me, it's my first!
The bad: control panel decal, screen burn, no sound, lost power after mucking with test switch

Reading through the manuals before asking lots of newbie questions about how the heck I knocked it out, and for the sound issue.

Brian
 

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if you dont have power after messing with test switch,you should check all the interlocks,open the coin door and to the left should be a interlock switch,pull it out and leave coin door open.remove the rear door,on the left,pull the interlock out also there and then see if you have power.

if not,check your fuses,then check voltages.

got centipede myself,mines an irish as i am in uk,mine cost me a lot more than yours also.
:(

but,i am happy with mine,you will find that a lot of centipedes seem to have screen burned monitors,mine has and i seen several on sites as well as here with burn in also.
:)
 
nice centipede!!!!! it's pretty rare you see a game come with that much documentation, unless it's one of those NIB robotrons.
 
Looks to be in very nice shape for a Centipede. They tended to have gotten a lot of play. Consider doing a rebuild on the trackball - bearings, rollers, and a ball.
 
Thanks guys. I'll be digging back into it in the morning.

From the seller it sounds like it went home-use only in the early 90's and the trackball was rebuilt in 1994. It's dirty, but nothing like I've seen some pins. Cleaning up great so far.

Complete newbie questions:

Credit counter is around 23,500 - is the average? At 25 cents a play it doesn't seem like the operator made much on this one.

Can I/should I buy a new monitor to deal with the burn? Image otherwise seemed good.

I'm assuming a new cp decal is easy to come by (?)


Thanks,

Brian
 
Looks real good!

I got mine for $125, has about the same monitor burn as yours, it looks fine when running but I slipped a piece of tinted plexi behind the glass bezel and now it's not really noticeable, mine also came with all the documentation as well, mine has 2 coin counters on it, one is 23K and the other is 28K.
You can get a control panel overlay from Arcadeshop for $40, mine had a very small nick at the front edge of it but not enough damage to replace yet, going to get new sideart for it at some point though as it's peeling some at the edges.

Good luck. :)
 
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...mine has 2 coin counters on it, one is 23K and the other is 28K.

Oh yeah, two counters on mine too. Duh, two coin slots, two counters. So about 23,500 and 17,500. That makes more sense. 42,000 quarters passed into this one. Very cool. I was trying to enlighten my daughter last night to explain that my life when I was a kid was defined by the almighty quarter. If you asked me in 1980 what a quarter meant to me, the immediate answer would be "a game".

Heading to the shop, multimeter in hand to trace down my power outage.

Brian
 
Thanks for the pics - yep, she's an original, and looks to be in good shape too.

Concerning the sound, I'd say you probably need to rebuild the power/sound board, also known as the ARII (ay-are-too) board. Bob Roberts sells a rebuild kit for it. The ARII board could also be contributing to the whole system not powering up too, since it provides power to everything.

While you're at it, you might as well get a deluxe rebuild kit for the monitor (G07-CBO) too. That'll save you time and hassle down the road if (when!) you need to do monitor repairs.
 
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